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Quarry Project: Pinups The first project for this semester was designing an outside place in a quarry north of Boston in Rockport. And we have gone to the quarry, and they were asked, the students were asked to find a place in the quarry that they like, photograph it, sketch it, understand it, bring it back to the studio, and then design a classroom for themselves and me, and that was sheltered, not unenclosed. But the idea was making a place in the quarry that was either natural or was it to appear to be built. It was to fit into the context of the quarry. And they are welcome to use any materials that they thought would relate to the quarry. When they came back from the quarry, I then asked them to do their first design and their first ideas of the quarry. So what you are about to see is the very first pinup of the semester of this very first project.
What I saw, that as the best place about this thing is how nature is really… it got a logic to it. And every gap, everything that’s there is filled in in some ways. There’s nothing lost, there’s nothing wasted. Everything sort of belongs and that sort of a net of things. So I decided that my site would be right here, where all the seagulls were. I figured that the seagulls know better than me-what the best of the place is. Nature has that logic. …and so it adds to xxx you know and I realized it was the site. But if you notice, it’s got a lot of… it basically clicks with the cut-out. And what I am trying to do is fill that space as nature does. Have that space filled in. This is what the site looks like now. There are the seagulls, and then this is what I’m going to do—just sort of fill that. Just make it more like, how it used to be, how imaginative to that day before when I chose our xxx. ( unclear 2:47-2:53). And I’d like you to get the idea of just how intimate the experiment got. Here it shows, just how, even the grass, and the ground, and the soil, even on the rocks, even on the xxx. Here’s that site, and I’ll just even that out in a way. Also when I was there, I was listening to the seagulls and they were a little bit annoying at times, but just xxx.. The sound of the water washing and the sound of them just flying around, the wind rustling the fancy xxx and that was also part of the experience. And I’m moving closer to this coz I don’t wanna… This is the site looking like at my xxft board. The seagulls were here, and I saw this small space here as a private area and also here’s a private area. And then this bigger space as the common space. I’m looking at the studio as more of a dynamic place rather than all of us having our desks. This is my idea of adding a stone wall to the site so that it blends. I just, I’m very literal about it. I just imagined those trees just growing out of those gaps and rocks building a canopy and they’re intertwining at the top. And sort of like, I would be entering this space, but the xxx of tunnel, of just like, a canopy of plants. That sort of, I wanna do that, like leap of plants. And people sitting around with their drawing boards on their laps, moving around and going down here to look out And here’s my model. The stair’s on the side and going all the way down. And steps, xxx.
(What did you just take away?) These are the steps. I can take out other pieces so that you can see the original. (No.) But they simply, I only added the stone walls and then I am thinking of using. I don’t feel like I want to disturb the environment. I feel like to I want to use what’s already there and sort of the spaces are telling me ‘this is useful', you know, ‘use me as such’. This is a sitting area. That is a drawing board, and this is a drawing board. I don't want, I feel like I can just work with what I have and fill that space in, and not disturb anyone. None of the animals are xxx away. (Could you just talk a little bit about this? This is quite, it looks quite different from your sketch.) Ok, well, this is sort of the abstract version of the sketch. Since the spot that I’m picked is very sunny, I want to take advantage of that, so I want to make that that’ll be clear, but also create some shadows, some movements to… And in some ways, I am trying to use this as a tunnel, on this side, and again here, sort of a curvature of the roof so that the traps laid in, break it into space down soft to the top and go down to the studio. But I just imagined it just growing out of the ground, just to covering up the ground.
It’s a very, very good start. And then that gives me a license to negatively say none of that does. I am really impressed also how quickly we have understood the quarry, and the subtleties of the observations you have made. I think the idea of co-existing with the seagull is wonderful. And I don’t know how you do that, and if you can do that. But I have to tell you a story. I was in a summer house where I was, which two young deer have decided it’s their house. We, and I was there, they were there, and they were sort of wondering why I was there, coz I’m--they are more there than I’m there. We became friends over a couple of days. The two xxxes. They are about that size. And you said to xxx, then I said co-exist. I feel that we can live together. So, the sensitivity toward the seagulls which, I don’t have any problems with the deer, I don’t know in certain ways, is wonderful and how you that I don’t know. One is very interesting to me again from the observations, the seagull xxx, I think you are right, I think the seagulls know something. They normally, they’ve been around... I don't know again, how happy they are gonna be about you move into that space. but they’ll let you know. But that is a very good observation. That's a natural kind of place xxx. The translation of that into what you are setting, which is the case of all of us, in the beginning as an architect, and what we do is different. And that’s our job. That’s all this is about. Try to get the kit down to the body, out to the hand, and into this. All this is what we need. We’re not getting a ride. And I’ve been around it for a few years longer than you have when you see, I’m sure, I don’t get it right either. None of us can do.
I would like to challenge and question whether in this case the notion of this cover need to be as organic as what you’ve suggested here. Because when I see, if I go on, when I saw this, there is something already very elegant about the obstruction, the color against the quarry, people see that. It looks very beautiful when I was sitting over there looking at it. And the curve forms, the way that you have started to address it and solve it is quite wonderful. More wonderful in my mind, then what’s in your mind, which is this. And this is a take-off and this is a beginning. But whatever you correctly translate, the architecture format, and this great powerful format is not good enough and could be in another form. As for an example, these could be more sails move around, floating, canvas, different materials. But it is very, very powerful to form a link of this related to the qualities underneath. I also think this one is very exciting as she has made some changes on it and added to it. But you reinforced the place. So you are, what I would say, very contexture, you opened up this, followed the clues of seagulls, then tried to improve it. Good start, but you are only half way there, in terms of the architecture format, which you are a good half way with, in the sense that you’re relating this to the nature, this to the quarry, and this to the sky. I think this is horrible, (I agree.) You know, quite the fire-escape coming down, the second means of xxx which we’d talked about This is a little bit better but still it could be a little bit more subtle. I don’t know where I’m talking you have me everyday here. Here I don’t want to there, thank you, I want to be some place else. So be careful about suggesting where the classroom is in terms of directions at all because professors might not want to be where you want to be. So, but good start.
Last Modified 2/22/06 12:10 PM |
